I woke up to a grey, cloudy sky, the first in five weeks I'll just add! This had a marked effect on sightings at Cabranosa this morning. Gone were the decent numbers of Booted Eagles and accompanying birds, much time was spent scanning an empty sky. The cloud and wind kept the temperature down and therefore a lack of thermals for the raptors. Over the woods to the North and East, a Goshawk was seen briefly and throughout the day, a juvenile Bonelli's Eagle took to the air for infrequent flights over the distant woods. The only significant raptor to make an appearance overhead was this Osprey, around midday. Following reports of a Little Bustard and possibly Egyptian Vultures on the ground, three of us went around Vale Santo to check the fields. I came up with the unusual sighting of two juvenile Black Kites, huddling on the ground across the field before the farm. With many birders around for the Festival, sightings were probably better than came my way today. I know the first Yellow-browed Warbler was seen near Fort Beliche and John Talbot made contact with, probably the earliest Ring Ouzel, a nice male at Carl's pond.
The fine male Cirl Bunting was around the pond and trees at various times of the day also. Every day is different at Cabranosa. We have finally dispensed with the Northerly wind as it swings around to the East in just a gentle flow. This has enabled many of the recent birds to move on, the Black Stork flock amounted to 15 birds when it finally departed. The majority of raptors are still the Booted Eagles. When this morning's arrivals accumulated over the Cape, I counted 56 birds with more dark form eagles than I have previously seen. The majority are the light form, as below. Throughout the late morning, a small number of Short-toed Eagles, Honey Buzzards, an Egyptian Vulture and two Black Kites joined the Booted Eagle movement. My highlight was seeing two Bonelli's Eagles in the distance, one an adult and the other clearly in juvenile plumage. This Black Kite approached us in the afternoon. Not many small raptors other than this passing Sparrowhawk. On the ground around Cabranosa, two Quail flew off the hill and a Little Bustard was reported from the long hedge.
I noticed more Blackcaps about and a Cirl Bunting was heard in nearby trees. Yesterday produced the highest total of Booted Eagles, around the 240 mark. The sight of several significant flocks in the area was quite remarkable and made a great sight for the assembled watchers. Today saw a lesser number appear however, interest was maintained with a few Short-toed Eagles, Black Kite, 3 Egyptian Vultures and a flock of 8 Black Storks. Single Black Storks are quite common during the raptor migration though a flock of eight birds is unusual. Much information regarding the migration can be gained from engaging with the Portuguese recorders, working for the Ecosativa organisation - monitoring the effect of wind farms on migratory birds. Some interesting information was given to us by our friend Tiago and, rather than fill more pages with Booted Eagles, I would like to share this information. It is fairly general knowledge now that this organisation (Ecosativa) have the capability to stop the wind turbines when there is an imminent threat to incoming flocks of vultures. (In the last couple of years their casualty rate has been Zero!) The criteria for stopping turbines is when a bird is within a 500 metre radius. Through accurate sighting, an individual turbine can be stopped and not the whole installation. The shutdown criteria does not only apply to the vultures passing through here, but will also take place for a single Osprey, Bonelli's Eagle, Black Stork, to name a few 'specific' species. Three juvenile Egyptian Vultures flew with the Black Storks from time to time. One of these birds is a lighter variant (upperwing) and has spectacular fresh plumage, with no sign of moulting. The second fascinating piece of information we gained today, evolved partly through me bleating about not having seen Bonelli's Eagle or some of the other larger eagle species, this year.
Apparently, there are now a few pairs of Bonelli's Eagles with territories stretching in a line, separating the Sagres peninsula from the Northern hills. The ferocity of a Bonelli's Eagle is well known, having seen it for myself on two occasions here in recent years. The result is that the Bonelli's will not tolerate any large eagle, anywhere in their territory. Yesterday in the hills, Tiago witnessed a Bonelli's Eagle harrassing a Spanish Imperial Eagle to the point where the Imperial Eagle turned around and headed back from where it had come. This may mean that our chances of seeing Golden Eagle for instance, are now somewhat less than previously. Good news for the Bonelli's Eagles though, severely threatened at one time. Successful watching got off to an early start at Cabranosa with two juvenile Egyptian Vultures being among the first raptors to arrive over Sagres. Among other 'early birds' were a good number of Sparrowhawks, with three or four often flying together. Pale form Booted Eagles were increasing in numbers steadily. Counting was relatively easy as we progressed up to twelve and then on to twenty. Then we realised Booted Eagles were accumulating in more than one part of the sky and we were soon looking at forty, then sixty easily. A small proportion of the Booted Eagles were dark form individuals. I would imagine the day total would be in the order of a hundred Booted Eagles. I made out around seventy on one occasion. Honey Buzzards passed through in their various juvenile plumages, looking very smart. Eight Honey Buzzards were counted together with three Common Buzzards also, including this low pass. Two Peregrines were the only falcons seen and late in the morning, four Short-toed Eagles mingled with the Booted Eagle flocks. Two female Hen Harriers passed through, this one flying high over Cabranosa. An encouraging build up of raptors today, hopefully being maintained for some time during the coming weeks.
Aside from Cabranosa, I came across my first Richard's Pipit of the Autumn, before the farm at Vale Santo. Yesterday was spent in Lagos, a few domestic tasks, a walk along the waterfront and a nice lunch. Before leaving for Sagres, I called in at Lagos airfield and checked out the old saltpans there. I have visited this pool many times and have never seen Greater Flamingos here before. I counted 29 birds in all - a mix of adults and juveniles. There must be an adequate food supply as the flamingos were feeding constantly. I was reliably told by Chris and Sue that there were more new birds on Atalaia and it was there, I visited this morning. Sure enough, following the sunrise, Willow Warblers began fluffing themselves up in the sunshine. There were approximately 20 Willow Warblers and 5 Chiffchaffs showing well in the line of bushes. I then found myself working a little harder as, the next few warblers were a little tricky. The early sunlight gave a strange impression to this female Subalpine Warbler. The next warbler was quite large and although sitting out in the open, was not immediately obvious as to its identity. The best clue came from the fact that behind the bird, you can make out the rear part of an adult Garden Warbler. Just starting to show a small grey neck patch led me to conclude this was a juvenile Garden Warbler. Also, the plain appearance, grey legs and short stout bill were helpful features. No problems with this 1w Pied Flycatcher, one of two seen in the hedge I was pleased to find another Nightingale skulking in the very bottom of the bushes. It was a long time before it showed well and remained very secretive. Only a matter of feet away from the Nightingale, a superb looking Reed Warbler showed very well and had a deep buff colour to the underparts. A female Sardinian Warbler was hunting insects on this cactus plant, completing the warbler count this morning. Other species seen in these bushes were - 1 Wheatear, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Redstart, 3 Stonechat, 3 Blackbird, 1 Turtle Dove, 8 House Sparrow, 1 Thekla's Lark.
A steady trickle of raptors again, with no large numbers of any particular species. Booted Eagles and slightly fewer Short-toed Eagles made up the majority seen though three or four Sparrowhawks were often grouped together. Single arrivals of Black Kite, Common Buzzard, Goshawk, Egyptian Vulture and another Black Stork made interesting sightings. Late morning and a distant large falcon was in company with a smaller falcon towards Sagres. The larger falcon was identified as an Eleonora's Falcon and the smaller one, possibly a Merlin but it never approached close enough for a positive i.d. The Eleonora's was seen again in the afternoon and although still rather distant, was a juvenile. This falcon is a different juvenile to the one I saw last week as, the wing markings are quite different in colouration. The Egyptian Vulture was a young one in its dark brown plumage, unlike the one seen two days ago. View of upperwing on a Black Kite. Two Short-toed Eagle images. The Black Stork on one of its many circuits of the area.
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